head tilt, but unable to stand?

Question
Okay, so My pet rabbit Shadowbunny had a pasturella infection in her eye and we gave her Baytril shots for two weeks and she seemsed to be improving - less circling, slightly better balance, less runny eye... And then one day she started getting worse. FAST. She went from upright with a slight head tilt to unable to stand within 24 hours. She wasn't able to stay upright on the side with the runny eye. Any attempts to hold her upright ends in her flailing and thrashing and rolling over till she's down again. She's still taking a round of baytril shots. Any idea what could be the problem?

I am going to contact my vet tomorrow, if at all possible, and explain further and see what I need to do. Right now I have her in a padded cage with a sheepskin blanket and some small pillows.  She is also diapered since bathing is a problem due to the fact that I cannot get to the down side to dry it without her struggling violently.

Thank you for your assistance, in advance,
Jen and Shadowbunny

Answer
Dear Jen,

The same thing happened to us with our big bunny, Lily.  She developed a head tilt, and seemed to be improving on ciprofloxacin (closely related to Baytril, which is enrofloxacin).  Then, four days later, she "crashed"--she was running a 105 fever, and couldn't stand.

What happens in cases like this is that some of the bacteria that were causing the problem initially have been killed off by the Baytril, but there must have been members of the population that were *resistant* to the Baytril.  Those are now taking over, and their population has exploded.  It is very likely that you will need to switch Shadowbunny to a different antibiotic, and SOON.  

Since you mention there is eye involvement and that she has weepy eyes, my educated guess is that this is being caused by a molar root abscess.  Please see:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/sneezing.html

and

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/dental.html

as well as:

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/tilt.html

and

www.bio.miami.edu/hare/culture.html

These four articles will fully explain what you are probably facing, and give information about proper diagnosis and treatment of the problem.  Since this is very likely a jaw abscess and/or inner ear infection, and antibiotic with good penetration of those things is necessary.  If Baytril is not working, then good, rabbit-safe alternatives to try (while the results of the culture and sensitivity test are pending) would be injectable bicillin (Penicillin-G Procaine plus Benzathine, once every other day) and chloramphenicol (which must be given either orally or via injection *three* times per day, as it has a short "hang time" in the body).

My opinion here is that the Baytril will probably be useless from this point on, if she took a dive while still on it.  I would ask the vet about changing to a different antibiotic before the infection gets much worse.  I hope the vet is amenable to suggestions from strangers on the internet, because some of them are not.  :(

I hope this helps get you started on a different road to her recovery.  Please write back if you have any other questions.  Don't give up on her!  She just needs different meds!

Dana